


that falling dream again

by Meridas



Series: kiss me once, then kiss me twice [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cleric Molly, Combat, Established Relationship, February Kiss Prompts, Other, Prompt Fill, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-23 02:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17674484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meridas/pseuds/Meridas
Summary: The past doesn’t sleep forever, no matter how far Molly pushes it away.prompt fill for day 4: "kiss of life" / day 8: "'giddy that we're alive' kiss"





	that falling dream again

**Author's Note:**

> This one takes place in an au I haven't written a cohesive story for yet, but it includes a swap of Molly and Caleb's memory situations. In this case, Molly became a cleric of the Moonweaver after that whole Lucien mess. I think that's all that's particularly relevant to this fic, but I'm also always down to talk more about this au if anything's unclear! 
> 
> fic title comes from "In My Arms" by Grizfolk. also, I'm combining some these now because damn 28 prompts is a lot!

Molly knows better than most that no matter how far you run, your past sometimes won’t let you go. The past doesn’t sleep forever, no matter how far Molly pushes it away. He’s stopped looking over his shoulder, stopping hearing the name _Lucien_ around every corner. He’s tried so hard to live in the moonlight that it took him too long to notice that they have walked into a trap.

Molly ducks under a lightning bolt, his heart in his throat. He throws a bolt of divine energy at the necromancer, then wraps a protective Sanctuary around Jester as she struggles against a paralytic spell. He takes comfort in Yasha’s familiar battle roar and the sound of Beau’s fists hitting flesh. They’re holding their own in this ambush, he thinks, and it’s just as his spirits start to lift that it goes so wrong.

Suddenly a chill washes over him, and he looks up in time to see a shadow rip through the very fabric of the plane and spill out a demon. Oily, feathered wings sprout from its emaciated frame, razor-sharp talons glinting in the dim light of their fire. Its head whips around, and the spellslinger shouts a word to it—not Infernal, nothing that Molly understands, but something that slithers in his ears like cold and viscous poison.

The demon’s beak opens wide, and an unholy screech splits the air around them.

Molly’s hands immediately slam over his ears, but the shriek seems to pierce his skull and his ribs. It vibrates in his bones and chills him to the core, and he hunches in on himself and prays that it will end before his brains leak out his ears. Through wavering vision, he sees the demon drawing closer to him, beady eyes glinting with hunger and malice. Molly tries to make his hands move, to fumble for his sword or his holy symbol, _anything_ , but his hands feel numb and cold and the world spins around him.

“Hey!” a voice shouts, a voice he knows and shoots a bolt of panic through him because Caleb should never, ever be the one provoking a demon like this. But there’s Molly’s lover, his wizard, a diamond throwing orange light across his handsome features as he spins it in his hand and sends fire streaking toward the creature.

Flames splash across its feathers, bright in the darkness, and it lets out another scream—not as powerful this time, but _angry_ and hurt. As Molly struggles against the effects of the first screech, it unfurls its wings and launches away from him, aiming straight for Caleb.

The first slash of its talons skitters off Caleb’s arcane shield, but its beak sinks deep into his shoulder and tears viciously. Caleb yells in pain, trying to back away from the creature’s advances. Pushing through the stunning effect of the demon’s scream, Molly snatches his sword up from the ground and makes it two steps before a fireball explodes at his heels and sends him tumbling.

“Fuck!” he hears from Fjord, and the clash of steel blades rings out across the field. He shakes himself off, frantically swats out the fire smoldering at the edge of his coat, and pushes himself up to face the spellslinger.

“There’s nothing _left_ for you,” he snarls, stalking forward. He swipes his sword across his arm, lighting up jagged shards of ice along the blade. “Lucien is _gone!_ ” The necromancer’s hood has fallen back, her face one he has tried to sear from his mind these last two years. He points the tip of his sword at her and summons divine command into his voice. “Now _leave!_ ”

He sees her falter, her face falling slack as her body turns to flee away from him, the power of his magic forcing her away—and straight into Beau’s staff.

The necromancer crumples to the ground, choking. Beau slams her staff down again on her temple, and the woman falls still.

Molly whirls around. “Caleb!”

The demon rears back, looming over Caleb with wings spread and bloody beak flashing. Caleb flings his hands out, a spray of fire bursting from his fingertips. The creature’s feathers ignite and it screams in anger and pain, and Molly is still too far away as it comes down on Caleb with its full fury.

His shield flickers briefly, then goes out. Caleb hits the ground and the creature screeches again and rakes its talons across his body in a fury.

“No!” Molly shouts, sends magic toward his wizard to save him, but the spell he throws out… drifts.

Molly’s fingertips go cold. He knows what it means—he pushes it away, he doesn’t want it to stick in his mind. It won’t—he _can’t_ —

The demon’s bloody beak turns toward him, eyes glowing with unholy light. It opens its beak, revealing a maw of razor-sharp teeth, and it draws in breath to shriek—

“ _Fuck off!_ ” Jester screams, and the demon’s screech fades as it folds in on itself, writhing smaller and smaller, until it vanishes from the plane.

Molly doesn’t slow for a second. He slides to his knees beside Caleb, reaching for him. Nott sprints out of the shadows to him. Her crossbow clatters to the ground and she turns him over, and Caleb—

“ _Fix him_ ,” she hisses, golden eyes burning into Molly, her clawed hands clenching in his bloodied coat. “You fix him _now_ , or I swear—”

Molly barely even hears her. He pushes her gently aside, fumbling through his pockets and yanking a diamond free with one hand while he clasps his symbol to the Moonweaver with the other. “Please,” he prays, “please, _please,_ don’t let my _fucking_ past take him away from me.” He drops the diamond on Caleb’s chest and leans over him. Caleb’s cheek is still warm under his shaking hand. “Caleb, _please_ ,” he whispers, and he presses his lips to Caleb’s forehead and closes his eyes and prays.

Even with his eyes closed, the radiant burst of the diamond hurts his eyes. Molly sobs in relief as he feels the soft touch of the Moonweaver’s magic sweep through him, and hears Caleb’s harsh gasp of air as he’s dragged back into the land of the living.

Molly presses his forehead against Caleb’s, weak with relief. “Thank you,” he chokes out. He can feel tears running down his nose, probably getting on Caleb’s face, but he doesn’t care. His wizard is alive under his hands, and that’s all that matters. Molly’s past hasn’t stolen this precious life from him. Moonweaver help him, he won’t allow it.

He clasps Caleb’s face in his hands and kisses him, tasting blood and sweat and ichor and not caring in the slightest. Caleb makes a muffled sound of surprise against his lips. Molly gasps, his breath hitching in his throat as he pulls back and stares down at Caleb’s face, his eyes blinking slowly and focusing on him.

“Molly,” he mutters. One hand comes up and pats clumsily at Molly’s face, and he makes a terribly stupid sound as he laughs and sobs and tries to say Caleb’s name all at once. Caleb pats him again, a faint smile on his face.

Tiny hands shove at his shoulder with surprising strength. Molly falls back on his ass and sits there, tries to steady his breathing as Nott throws her arms around Caleb. He feels a gentle hand come down on his shoulder, and he slumps back against Yasha’s legs and just breathes.

Slowly, they gather themselves back up. Yasha picks Molly up and sets him back on his feet, and he gives her a shaky smile.

“I can—give me a minute—” Molly wipes his face with his sleeve. “I can—”

“Molly,” Jester says gently, “I got this, okay? Let’s just everybody sit down and I’m gonna do a little prayer of healing for us all, and after that I think we’ll be okay to get the rest of the way into town.”

“Okay,” Molly agrees, letting out a sigh. He goes and collects his swords from the ground as Jester’s lilting chant fills the air around them, then returns to Caleb as if drawn on a string. Caleb looks up at him, then leans over and whispers something in Nott’s ear. She gives Molly a calculating look, but then she scampers off and begins looting the necromancer’s body.

Molly folds himself down to sit next to Caleb, looking him over closely. Caleb looks… tired, but alright. There’s color to his face, not just dirt, and his hands are warm when he pulls Molly closer. The Moonweaver’s magic seems to have left him no worse off for his brush with death, and Molly leans into him with a grateful sigh.

Caleb cups Molly’s face in his hands, brushing his fingers softly against his cheekbone. “You have a new star,” he murmurs, and for a moment Molly has no idea what he’s talking about. Then he laughs, and captures Caleb’s hand in his.

He presses Caleb’s fingers against his lips. “That one’s for you,” he says, and giggles. His voice still shakes and he isn’t sure he’s making sense, but right now he doesn’t care.

Caleb smiles at him and leans in again. Molly closes his eyes, savoring the featherlight kisses that Caleb scatters across his face, following the smattering of pale freckles on his cheeks—spots of light the Moonweaver has marked him with. Caleb finishes as he always does, with a kiss to the tip of Molly’s nose, and then his warm lips cover Molly’s and he kisses him firmly. Molly presses close, deepening the kiss, trying to impart everything he feels—relief and fear and love all mingled together. He’s never felt able to express everything he feels for Caleb, not fully able to even grasp the warmth that aches and shines in his chest, but that’s alright. He can hold his wizard close and kiss him, and that is enough.


End file.
